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Lose the Boss

It's always a tricky business getting lots of really funny people together in the same movie. Take "Grown Ups": five of the funniest guys around, yet the film never comes together. So "Horrible Bosses" treads a dangerous line. With leading men Jason Bateman ("Arrested Development"), Jason Sudeikis ("SNL") and Charlie Day ("It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia") - all best known for their work on the small screen - and a slew of big-names in secondary roles, it could easily fall victim to the same traps. Luckily for all of us, it doesn't.

Nick, Kurt and Dale - who honestly don't have much in common except their longtime friendship - each have very different jobs. Mr Bateman's Nick is trying to climb the corporate ladder, but is thwarted at every turn by his sadistic boss, Mr Harken (Kevin Spacey). Mr Sudeikis's Kurt is quite happy at his position at the chemical factory... that is until his boss (Donald Sutherland) dies and leaves his cokehead son Bobby (Colin Farrell) to take over. Dale, a hilarious Mr Day, is relentlessly harassed by his boss (Jennifer Anniston), who is so over-the-top inappropriate, it's ridiculous. Though, as Kurt puts it: "You know... yours doesn't sound that bad."

Each is tied to his job, for reasons of his own, so what's a guy to do? In this case, the answer is: hire a hit man. After a very funny misstep (hint: don't look on Craigslist in the M4M section), the trio heads to the ghetto, where they hook up with none other than Motherf'er Jones, played by Jamie Foxx, who is clearly having a lot of fun. Under his guidance, they decide to go down the "Strangers on a Train" path and each chooses a hit.

It's not a very original story, so you can guess where it goes from there. As a group, they are as inept as criminals as they are funny, so there's a lot of bungling going on. I admit, I'm that person who cringes at ill-conceived reconnaissance where you just know that they're going to get caught somehow. However, I will allow that the end does justify the means, in this case.

The talent is dizzying, but much more dizzying is the chemistry. Bateman, Day and Sudeikis effortlessly play off each other, making it look easy. Kevin Spacey is a straight-faced psychopath and Jennifer Anniston is clearly relishing a role where she doesn't have to play the good girl. They all have a lot to work with, too. Screenwriters Michael Markowitz, John Francis Daley and Jonathan M. Goldstein nail the dialog and Seth Gordon's direction doesn't get in the way of the natural interplay between the actors.

At the end of the day, it's all been done before, but that doesn't really matter. With competition like "Bad Teacher" and "Transformers 3", "Horrible Bosses" really is the best summer movie out there right now. And if you think you've got it bad, this may make you reconsider. No matter how evil your boss is, there's no way he can hold a candle to these guys.